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Celiac Disease 20 Times More Likely for Those with Type 1 Diabetes

Scott Adams

In 1994 I was diagnosed with celiac disease, which led me to create Celiac.com in 1995. I created this site for a single purpose: To help as many people as possible with celiac disease get diagnosed so they can begin to live happy, healthy gluten-free lives. Celiac.com was the first site on the Internet dedicated solely to celiac disease. In 1998 I foundedÂ The Gluten-Free Mall, Your Special Diet Superstore!, and I am the co-author of the book Cereal Killers, and founder and publisher of Journal of Gluten Sensitivity.

Celiac.com 06/06/2002 - The results of a
study conducted by Dr. Graziano Barera and colleagues from the Scientific
Institute H San Raffaele, Milan, Italy and published in the May issue
of Pediatrics indicate that those with type 1 diabetes are 20 times more
likely to also have celiac disease. The researchers collected data on
274 consecutive newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients with a mean age
of 8.28 years. These patients were studied for the following 6 years.
At the time of their diagnosis 10 of them (3.6%) already had celiac disease,
and over the next 4 years an additional 12 children tested positive for
antiendomysial antibodies, and 7 underwent biopsies and were confirmed
to have celiac disease. The overall prevalence of biopsy confirmed celiac
disease in the group was 6.2%, and most of the cases were asymptomatic
and the children showed no obvious signs of the disease. The researchers
conclude that greater than 10% of children with newly-diagnosed type 1
diabetes had developed serological markers for celiac disease within the
first 6 years of diagnosis, and they recommend that children in this category
be screened annually for celiac disease for several years following their
type 1 diabetes diagnosis.